Bowling ball with nonremovable rotatable finger plugs



July 27, 1965' BOWLING BALL WITH NOHBEMWXBBIIE ZEIEKQER PLUGS Filed a m:;s,., 21955 IN VENTOR VINCENT YETTITO MMLMMW AT TO R NE Y5 UnitedStates Patent f 3,197,206 BOWLING BALL WITH NONREMOVABLE ROTATABLEFINGER PLUGS Vincent Yettito, 32 S. Main St., Port Chester, N.Y. FiledApr. 3, 1963, Ser. No. 270,352 1 Claim. (Cl. 273-63) This inventionrelates to bowling balls with rotatable plugs carrying the finger andthumb holes therein in which the plug may be conveniently and easilyrotated as desired by the user, but in which the plug cannot be removedwithout destruction of the component parts thereof.

Bowling balls having rotatable plugs in which finger and/or thumb holesare provided are known to the art, as for example, that disclosed in myPatent No. 2,991,079. Rotatable plugs of this nature have become fairlypopular since the user can adjust the ball as, for example, byadjustment of the plug during play to adjust the span and inclination ofthe holes. Thus, during play, the user may change the inclination of thehole to compensate for the loss of gripping force as his hands tire.This is particularly important during tournament play.

In the structure disclosed in my former patent, the plugs can be removedfrom the bowling ball. In many tournaments, however, particularly thoseconducted under the sponsorship of the American Bowling Congress, theballs are weighed to ensure conformance of the balls used with theprecise specifications of the balls as, for example, with respect toweight eccentricity. To eliminate the necessity for reweighing ballsduring the tournament and to eliminate the time consumed thereby, it hasbeen found desirable in many applications to provide a rotatable plugwhich, however, cannot be removed by the user without destruction of thecomponent parts.

It is, therefore, a primary object of this invention to provide abowling ball having rotatable plugs carrying the finger and thumb holes,which plugs can be easily rotated, but cannot be removed from the ballwithout destruction of the component parts of the plug structure,

In accordance with this object, there is provided, in a preferredembodiment of this invention, a bowling ball having a radially extendingcylindrical cavity extending inwardly from the surface thereof. Anannular keeper slot is milled in the surface of the cylindrical cavity.A plug is provided of cylindrical form which fits snugly within thecylindrical cavity. One end of the plug is shaped to conform to thespherical outer surface of the bowling ball. A finger hole is boredgenerally axially of the plug from the cylindrical shaped end thereof. Athreaded bore is provided communicating between the bottom of the boredhole and the other end of the plug. The threaded bore receives thethreaded section of a screw having a head thereon, which head isrecessed within an annular cavity drilled in the other end of the plug.The plug is provided with an annular recess circumferentially extendingabout the outer surface thereof to receive an annular ring. The ring iscompressed so as to fit entirely within the groove in the plug and theassembly is inserted within the cavity until the ring springs out intothe annular slot in the cavity. A slot is provided in the shank of thebolt which may be reached by a screwdriver extended through the fingerbore so as to frictionally engage the bottom of the cavity locking theplug in position. When it is desired to rotate the plug, the screw maybe backed off. Thus, the plug may be easily and conveniently rotated bythe user. However, the interaction of the clamp ring prevents removal ofthe plug.

Having briefly described the invention, it will be de- 3,197,206Patented July 27, 1965 scribed in greater detail in the specification,which may best be understood by reference to the accompanying figurewhich is a partially sectioned View of a bowling ball constructed inaccordance with the present invention.

In the figure, there is shown a bowling ball 10 having a firstcylindrical cavity 12 and a second cylindrical cavity 14 extendingradially inwardly from the surface thereof. Plugs are provided withineach of the cavities, the plugs being shown fully inserted within thecavity 12 and in the process of being inserted within cavity 14.

Plug 16 is a cylindrical plug adapted to fit snugly within thecylindrical cavity 12. One end 18 of the plug is provided with a surfacematching the spherical surface of the ball. A thumb hole 20 is boredinwardly from the surface 18. As shown, the bore 20 may extend at anangle to the axis of the plug thereby to provide a thumb hole, theposition of which with re spect to the finger hole and the inclinationthereof is adjusted by rotation of the plug within the cavity 12.

The plug 16 is held within the ball by the action of a C-ring 22 whichextends into the annular groove 24 in the cavity wall and the annulargroove 26 in the plug wall. To frictionally hold the plug in any desiredposition of rotation, a threaded bore 28 is provided communicatingbetween the bottom of the thumb hole 20 and the cavity 12. A screw 30threadably engages the threaded bore 28 and is provided with a slottedsurface 32. Thus, a screwdriver may be inserted within the bore in slot32 and the screw advanced until it engages the bottom of cavity 12.Since it is desired that the screw be irremovable, it is provided with ahead 34 which is received within an annular recess 36 in the cavity.

Thus, by relatively simple means, the user may back off the screw untilthe head 34 thereof disengages the bottom of the cylindrical cavity 12.Thereupon, the plug may be rotated to any desired position and locked inthat position by advancement of screw 28 so that the head 34 engages thebottom of the cavity 12. However, neither the plug nor its componentscan be removed from the ball without destruction of some of thecomponents such as the ring 26.

The plug insertion can best be understood by reference to the plug 40which is shown in position for insertion within the cavity 14. Plug 40is provided with two finger holes 42 and 44 with a bore 46 communicatingwith the bottom of one finger hole and the cavity. A screw 28 is mountedwithin this bore for the purpose explained in connection with the plug16. To insert the plug, the C-ring is compressed until the edges 43thereof move into abutting relationship and the ring body is positionedwithin the groove of recess 26. The plug is then inserted within thecavity 14 and the ring 22 is contained within groove 26 and the plug canbe inserted within the cavity 14. As the plug is inserted, the ring willdeflect outwardly entering in part into the recess 24 in the wall of thecavity 14 thereby securing the plug in the inserted position.

What is claimed is:

A bowling ball comprising a cylindrical cavity extending radiallyinwardly from the surface thereof, an annular groove formed in the wallof said cavity, a cylindrical plug dimensioned to fit snugly within thecavity, said plug having an annular groove in the outer surface thereofaligned with the groove in the wall of the cavity when the plug is inthe inserted position, a ring extending into the groove in both plug andthe cavity thereby to mount the plug within the cavity for rotationtherein, but preventing removal thereof, and means to frictionally lockthe plug in any desired position of rotation, said last named meanscomprising a finger hole a) extending inwardly from the outer end ofsaid plug, a threaded bore communicating between the bottom of thefinger hole and said cavity, said bore being provided with an annularrecess at the end of said bore adjacent the bottom of said cavity, ascrew threaclably engaged within said bore, said screw being provided atone end thereof with a head adapted to frictionally engage the bottom ofsaid cavity and to be received within said annular recess when saidscrew is backed off from engagement with the bottom of said cavity, saidscrew also being provided with a driver receiving means at the other endthereof, said driver receiver means being reachable through said bore toenable controlled advancement of said screw into frictional engagementwith the bottom of said cavity and retraction therefrom to enablerotation of said cylindrical plug.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,090,486 3/14Lohrnann 287-124 X 2,393,026 1/46 Dietz et a1. 273--63 2,475,876 7/49Campi 27363 2,693,034 11/54 Watson.

2,844,375 7/58 Nestor 273-63 2,991,079 7/61 Yettito 273--63 DELBERT B.LOWE, Primary Examiner.

